Andy seriously, you could perfectly saw today that he just needs a few minutes in his legs. I said it before, just look at the free kicks, first awful, second Diego like, third was on goal and I bet the a fourth one would have been even better placed and might be a goal. He just needs to do it, he can't to that in training but he has to get back on the pitch and learn to play again. He was out for months, sure he's not fit. But still he's a difference maker.
The match against the French, he did something Diego wasn't able to make the whole season long: creating a 100% chance out of nothing.
He needs to play at least 45 minutes a week to get back in the game, if not it won't change and are the other options we have any better?
I agree that he should get a start soon, but still, he doesn't seem like his normal self. And if that's the way he has looked in practice for Ciro, then maybe benching Alex is the correct decision.
Many folks here won't want to admit that he looks poor, which is understandable considering the player.
Why should Amauri, Diego, Cannavaro, Grygera, Melo, Grosso, Legro be given free ride in the team? Why 90% of the team should be given ride in the team?
I'm not saying they should. Nobody should have an automatic spot on the team, not even Del Piero. That's my point. But folks around here still think he deserves one, so I'm just pointing out he has been poor thus far.
Who was going to save us? Your out of form argument isn't logical Andy. No one in this team looks inform if that's what you want to say. Apart from Chiellini no one is. Even Poulsen and Marchisio aren't..
So if that's your theory/case, then we should field Chiellini with maybe injured Buffon alone and keep the rest out because they look out of form.
But this is again avoiding the topic at hand, which is Del Piero. It doesn't matter if everyone else is poor because even when that was the case in the past Del Piero stepped up to save our asses. If you take your BMW and run over Balotelli in a parking lot with no witnesses, I can't go kill somebody with my car and expect to say well, Rab did it and he didn't get caught, so why is it my fault?
Del Piero isn't doing the things he normally does when he's on the pitch, nor does he look like he can do them in his current state. So perhaps Ciro is right in not playing him. It's hard to say while not being at the training grounds, but still, I'm worried about the way Alex is looking. He should get a start though from time to time.